Micro electromechanical systems thermal switch

ABSTRACT

A Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) thermal switch. The switch includes a FET having a source and drain in a substrate and a beam isolated from the substrate, wherein the beam is a monolithic beam. The beam is positioned over the source and the drain and spaced by a predefined gap. When the thermal set point is reached, the beam moves to electrically connect the source to the drain.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation in part of a co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/371,572, filed Feb. 21, 2003, the complete disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Conventional thermal switches use bi or trimetallic disks for performing the switching process. These thermal switches include a metal-to-metal contact that results in microwelding, arching, and oxidization that can cause the switch to prematurely fail. Also, these thermal switches cannot be reduced below a certain size limit and thus, have limited applicability. Further, these thermal switches include a number of parts that require costly manual construction. The set point of these thermal switches is determined by the material and geometry of the thermal disk used and cannot be adjusted after construction. Therefore, these thermal switch set points cannot be adjusted once the switch is fabricated.

Therefore, there exists a need for an easy-to-produce thermal switch with an adjustable set point that can be efficiently manufactured.

SUMMARY

The present invention provides a Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) thermal switch. The switch includes a Field Effect Transistor (FET) having a source and drain in a substrate and a beam isolated from the substrate. The beam is positioned over the source and the drain and spaced by a predefined gap. When the thermal set point is reached, the beam moves to electrically connect the source to the drain.

In one aspect of the invention, a voltage source applies a voltage potential to the beam. The voltage source is adjusted in order to attain an electrostatic force between the beam and the substrate, thereby adjusting one or more of a thermal set point for the switch or hysterisis of the switch.

In another aspect of the invention, the beam is a monolithic beam. In yet another aspect, the beam is arched concave or convex relative the source and the drain.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The preferred and alternative embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the following drawings.

FIG. 1A illustrates a perspective view of a single beam embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 1B illustrates a cross-sectional view of the single beam thermal switch of FIG. 1A;

FIG. 2 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a second embodiment of a single beam thermal switch;

FIG. 3 illustrates a single bimetallic beam thermal switch formed in accordance with the present invention;

FIGS. 4A-F illustrate an example process of fabricating the thermal switch shown in FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 illustrates an H-beam thermal switch formed in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 6 illustrates a circuit for controlling set point and hysterisis of the thermal switch as shown in FIGS. 1A, 2, and 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The present invention is a Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) thermal switch with electrostatic control. FIG. 1A illustrates a perspective view of a single beam MEMS thermal switch 20. The thermal switch 20 includes a beam 24 that is arched over a source 26 and a drain 28 that are created within a silicon substrate 30.

FIG. 1B illustrates a cross-sectional view of the thermal switch 20 along a longitudinal axis of the beam 24. The source 26 and drain 28 are embedded within silicon substrate 30. The silicon substrate 30 is suitably a silicon wafer. Layered on top of the source 26 and the drain 28 is a gate oxide layer 32. The beam 24 is attached at its ends to insulator mounts 34. The insulator mounts 34 are attached to the gate oxide layer 32 on opposite sides of the source 26 and the drain 28 in order to allow the beam 24 to arch over the source 26 and the drain 28. In one embodiment, the beam 24 includes a monolithic beam. A monolithic beam is a single metal beam.

In another embodiment, the beam 24 includes a bimetallic beam. A bimetallic beam is composed of two different metals that expand differently when bonded together. In one aspect, the beam 24 is suitably a bimetallic beam that includes a first metal on one side of the beam 24 and a second metal on the other side of the beam 24. The first and second metals have different thermal expansion rates, thereby causing motion of the beam 24 in a direction towards the source 26 and drain 28 at a predefined temperature. The predefined temperature that causes the motion is called the set point of the thermal switch 20. When the set point is reached, the beam 24 flexes to make contact with the source 26 and drain 28, thereby electrically connecting the source 26 and the drain 28 and turning the switch 20 on

As temperature increases, the monolithic beam expands while the position of insulator mounts 34 does not expand as rapidly. This produces stress in the monolithic beam due to the thermal expansion because both ends are fixed. The stressed beam 24 bends (or flips). The direction of the bends depends on the boundary condition of the beam. FIGS. 2 and 3 show a beam design that forces the beam to flip down as the beam expands. The beams in FIGS. 2 and 3 have curved ends to flip down as the beam expands.

FIG. 2 illustrates another single beam thermal switch 60. The switch 60 includes a beam 64 mounted to insulator mounts 66. The insulator mounts 66 are oxide or any other insulating material. The insulator mounts 66 are mounted to a silicon substrate 70. A source 72 and a drain 74 are imbedded adjacent to each other within the substrate 70. The beam 64 is convex relative to the source 72 and the drain 74. A gap 78 exists between the beam 64 and the source 72 and the drain 74. As the temperature around the switch 60 increases, the beam 64 tries to expand but cannot because of the connection to the silicon substrate 70. Thus, the beam 64 flexes to make contact with the source 72 and the drain 74, thereby turning the switch 60 on. Not shown is a small layer of gate oxide that covers the source 104 and the drain 105. The gate oxide acts as an insulator and prevents an electrical short between the beam 64 and the substrate 70.

There is gate oxide deposited on the source 72 and drain 74. When the biased beam touches the gate oxide, the source 72 and drain 74 are electrically connected (or shorted).

FIG. 3 illustrates a switch 80 similar in construction to the switch 60, however, the switch 80 includes a beam 82 that is a bimetallic beam. The bimetallic beam 82 of the switch 80 allows for more aggressive motion towards or away from the source and drain embedded within the substrate than motion of the beam 64 of the switch 60. Not shown is a small layer of oxide that covers the source and drain. In another embodiment, the switch 60 includes a beam 82 that is a monolithic beam.

FIGS. 4A-F illustrate the fabrication steps for creating the switch 80. As shown in FIG. 4A, a silicon substrate 100 or a single crystal silicon wafer is provided with P-type doping (e.g., Boron). It can be appreciated that the silicon substrate can be N-type doped. A photoresist layer 102 is applied to the silicon substrate and is then etched according to a mask for a source 104 and drain 105. Next, ion implantation occurs through the etched out portions of the photoresist 102 into the substrate 100 using an N-type matter, such as phosphorous. It can be appreciated that if the silicon wafer was N-type, the implantation would be with P-type matter. The photoresist layer 102 is then removed.

As shown in FIG. 4B, an oxide layer is applied to the silicon substrate 100 and etched according to a predefined mask. The predefined mask allows removal of oxide in order to create insulating mounts 106 for the mounting of a beam. Not shown is a small layer of gate oxide that covers the source 104 and drain 105. In one embodiment, the small layer of gate oxide is grown after the creation of the insulating mounts 106.

As shown in FIG. 4C, a sacrificial material layer 110 is applied over the insulating posts 106 and the silicon substrate 100. The sacrificial material layer 110 is then etched according to a predefined mask in order to define a gap that is to exist between a beam and the source 104 (not shown) and drain 105 (not shown). A non-limiting example of the sacrificial material used in the sacrificial material layer 110 is titanium or any other material that can be removed without removing other material.

As shown in FIG. 4D, a first beam layer 112 is applied, masked, and etched on top of the sacrificial material layer 110. The first beam layer 112 can be aluminum, oxide, nitride, polysilicon, tungsten or any of a number of other materials.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4E, a second beam layer 120 is applied over the insulating mounts 106, the sacrificial layer 110, and the first beam layer 112. The second beam layer 120 is etched according to a predefined mask. The second beam layer 120 can be chromium, polysilicon, or another material that has a coefficient of expansion different than the first beam layer 112.

Finally, at FIG. 4F, the sacrificial material layer 110 is removed, thereby creating a gap 126 between the beam that includes beam layers 112 and 120 and the source 104 (not shown) and drain 105 (not shown).

FIG. 5 illustrates a top view of an H-beam thermal switch 200. The H-beam thermal switch 200 includes a source 204, a drain 206 and an H-beam 208. The H-beam 208 includes four mounting pads 212 and that mount to insulating pads (not shown) that attach to a silicon substrate 214. The source 204 and the drain 206 are embedded within the silicon substrate 214. The H-beam 208 includes two parallel beams 220 and 222. The first beam 220 connects to securing pads 212 a and 212 b and connects to the second beam 222 securing pads 212 c and 212 d. A cross-beam 230 connects the beams 220 and 222 to each other at approximately their mid-points. The cross-beam 230 is preferably sized larger than ends of each of the source 204 and drain 206. When the thermal switch 200 has reached its set point, the H-beam 208 flexes causing the cross-beam 230 to come in contact with portions of the source 204 and the drain 206, thereby closing the circuit.

FIG. 6 illustrates a control circuit 240. The circuit 240 includes a voltage supply 250 that provides a voltage potential to the beams in any one of the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1A, 2, and 3. The voltage source 250 is adjustable. By adjusting the voltage source 250 (i.e., the voltage potential on the beam), one can adjust an electrostatic force that is created between the beam and the substrate, because the substrate acts as ground. By adjusting the electrostatic force, the set point for each of the switches and the hysterisis can be increased or decreased.

While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, as noted above, many changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is not limited by the disclosure of the preferred embodiment. 

1. A thermal switch comprising: a FET having a source and drain in a substrate; and a beam isolated from the substrate and positioned over the source and the drain and spaced by a predefined gap, wherein the beam comprises a monolithic beam.
 2. The switch of claim 1, wherein the beam is a metal beam having a thermal set point, when the thermal set point is reached, the metal beam electrically connects the source to the drain.
 3. The switch of claim 2, further comprising a voltage source for applying a voltage potential to the metal beam.
 4. The switch of claim 3, wherein the voltage source is adjusted in order to attain an electrostatic force between the metal beam and the substrate, thereby adjusting one or more of a thermal set point for the switch or hysteresis of the switch.
 5. The switch of claim 1, wherein the beam is arched concave relative the source and the drain.
 6. The switch of claim 1, wherein the beam is arched convex relative to the source and the drain.
 7. The switch of claim 1, wherein the beam is an h-beam.
 8. A method of fabricating a thermal switch, comprising: providing a silicon substrate; applying a photoresist; masking the photoresist according to a source and drain mask; etching the photoresist according to the photoresist mask; implanting at least one of N-type or P-type doped material into the substrate; removing the photoresist; applying an insulating layer; masking the insulating layer according to a predefined insulating mask; etching the insulating layer according to the insulating mask; applying a sacrificial layer; masking the sacrificial layer according to a predefined sacrificial layer mask; etching the sacrificial layer based on the applied sacrificial layer mask; applying a beam material; masking the beam material according to a predefined beam mask; etching the beam material based on the beam mask; and removing the sacrificial layer.
 9. A thermal switch comprising: a substrate having a source and a drain separated by a predefined gap; and a connection means isolated from the substrate and positioned over the source and the drain for allowing current between the source and drain at a predefined temperature.
 10. The switch of claim 9, wherein the connection means includes a monolithic metal beam having a thermal set point, when the thermal set point is reached, the metal beam electrically connects the source to the drain.
 11. The switch of claim 10, further comprising a voltage means for applying a voltage potential to the metal beam.
 12. The switch of claim 11, wherein the applied voltage potential is adjusted in order to attain an electrostatic force between the metal beam and the substrate, thereby adjusting one or more of a thermal set point for the switch or hysterisis of the switch.
 13. The switch of claim 9, wherein the beam is arched concave relative the source and the drain.
 14. The switch of claim 9, wherein the beam is arched convex relative to the source and the drain.
 15. The switch of claim 9, wherein the beam is an h-beam. 